Road construction



Jan. 7, 1958 J. B. LEYENDECKER 2,819,026

ROAD CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 17, 1953 JOHN BATTICE LEYENDECKER INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent ROAD CONSTRUCTION JohnBatticeLeyendeckenHouston, Tex.

Application December 17 1953, Serial No. 398,690

1 Claim. (Cl.i238--10) The present invention relates to a portable roadwhich can be laid withaiminirnum of difiiculty;

In the drilling of wells. such. as oil or gas wells, it is not uncommonfor the drilling site to be located in relatively inaccessible places.It is necessary to-provide a road so that the drilling equipment can bemovedtothe location, and the drilling operators can then -move-to andfrom the drilling site with a minimum of diffi-culty.

Since it ordinarily takes a relatively short time to drill an oil well,it can be appreciated that it is desirable to provide access means whichcan be laid down while the well is being drilled and then picked up andreused on other drilling sites, as necessary.

The present invention provides a road construction which is sturdy andcompact, and which can be laid with a minimum of effort. The inventionalso contemplates a road formed of a plurality of interlocking sectionsso that the road can be laid section by section, and then torn up, afterthe use thereof is completed at a particular location, and transportedby truck or other suitable means to a new location and relaid.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a roadconstruction which will withstand tremendous loads, and which can belaid with a minimum of effort.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a road constructionwhich comprises a plurality of sections adapted to be engaged togetherto form a continuous roadway.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a roadway which issimple in construction and can be easily put together by unskilledlabor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readilyapparent from a consideration of the following description and drawingswherein:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view on the line 11 of Fig. 4 illustrating theconstruction of a preferred embodiment of the invention and a form ofmeans for maintaining adjacent sections connected;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 4 and illustratingadditional means for aiding in maintaining the sections of the roadwayin position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing the manner in which adjacent sectionsare engaged together to form a continuous road;

Fig. 5 is a partial top plan view of one of the road sectionsillustrating it on the ground ready to receive an adjacent section; and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a road section of the present invention.

Attention is directed to Figs. 4 and 5 wherein the portable oil fieldroad invention is illustrated generally by the numeral 2. It is to benoted that the roadway comprises a plurality of sections such as thatillustrated at 3, 4 and 5, which sections are adapted to be engagedtogether in order to form a road of a desired length.

Each of the road sections includes a plurality of spaced 2,819,026Patented Jan. 7, 1958 ice laterally extending members; as illustrated at6 in"-Fig.' 4 of the drawings. Secured to the laterallyextendingmembets-6 of eachsectiomby any suit'ablemeans such asnuts andbolts,: are a plurality t of 1 longitudinally. extending members7.

It is to be noted that the longitudinally extendingmembers 70f eachsection are arranged in a'pair'of spaced rows 8 and 9, was toaccommodate the wheels of a vehicle. The longitudinally extendingmembers7 are also arranged -in staggered relationship in each of the rows 8 andFanduwithrespect to theends 10 and 11 of" each section.

For example, the longitudinally extending-member 12 is as long asthesection, such as the section 3. 'Theleng'th of the sections are definedbythedistance' from the outside edge'of; the laterally extending member14 on one end ll of'the 'sections totheoutside edgeof "laterallyextending member 15 on the opposite end 100f the sections. Thenextadjacent longitudinally extending member 16-is staggered withrelation tojthe adjacent longitndin'ally extending member 12' so thatthe end 17' of the member 16 projects out beyondthe end11-of the section3, while the end 18 of such member is receded with respect to the end 10of the section 3 to form the recess 20 between adjacent longitudinalmembers 7. The next adjacent longitudinally extending member 23 isdisposed on the section in a manner similar to the member 12 whilemember 24 is in staggered relation to such member 23 and to adjacentmember 25 in a manner as previously discussed with regard tolongitudinally extending member 16.

The longitudinal members in row 8 of each section are similarly arrangedso that there is a recess in one end of the row in each section and aprojection in the other end of the row in each section.

The longitudinally extending members of the row 9 are disposed in astaggered relationship as described with regard to row 8 so that eachrow 8 and 9 in the sections is provided with a pair of members whichproject beyond one end of each section, while being provided with arecess 20 in the opposite end of each of the sections. The road sectionsmay be engaged together as they are laid on the ground by fitting theprojecting ends 17 of the longitudinally extending members of onesection into the recesses 20 of an adjacent section. This interconnectssuch sections together and positions them relative to each other on theground.

In some cases it may be desirable to provide an additional member 27 asillustrated in Fig. 2 adjacent the end of each section to aid inpositioning such sections on the ground surface. Such member 27comprises the laterally extending portion 28 and upstanding portions 29,30 and 31 which fit in the space 32 between the rows 8 and 9 and on eachside 33 and 34 of the rows 8 and 9 respectively. It may be desirablealso in some cases to provide strap means 35 for weaving among theengaged longitudinally extending members as illustrated in Fig. 1. Thestrap ends 36 may be engaged together by suitable buckle means (notshown).

While it is believed that the operation of the invention is apparent byreason of the foregoing, to further amplify and describe the invention,it will be assumed that it is desired to lay a plurality of sections inend to end relation to form a roadway. Suitable means such as a truck ortractor is provided with a hoist mechanism including a lifting frame, sothat a section of the road, as illustrated in Fig. 6, can be engaged andsuch section positioned on the ground, as illustrated in Fig. 5 or Fig.6. The truck or tractor then picks up another section, such as section4, backs to the end of section 3 and lays section 4 so that theprojecting ends 17 of the longitudinally ex.

tending members in each row 8 and 9 engage in the recesses 20 of section5. This operation is repeated until a suitable number of sections havebeen laid to complete the length of road, which in some cases may be asmuch as two to ten miles.

Fig. 4 illustrates several of the sections showing the relationship ofadjacent sections when engaged, with the projections of one sectionengaged in the recesses of the adjacent section.

The sections can be made in any desired lengths and preferably thelength of the sections is such that they can be carried from location tolocation on trucks. Sections approximately 30 feet in length have beenfound quite satisfactory. The laterally extending members 6 may bespaced a suitable distance apart so as to provide ample supportfor thesection and a distance of approximately two feet between laterallyextending members 6 has been found quite satisfactory.

After the use of the road has been completed, it can be picked up byreversing the foregoing procedure and transporting it to a new locationfor reuse.

Broadly, the invention relates to a portable oil field road and moreparticularly to aportable oil field road which can be quickly and easilylaid and then picked up for reuse at a new location.

What is claimed is:

A portable oil field road for wheeled vehicles comprising a plurality ofsections adapted to be fitted together for forming a continuous road,each of said sections including a plurality of spaced laterallyextending members, a pair of rows of longitudinally extending memberssecured to said lateral members, said rows being spaced foraccommodating the wheels of a vehicle, said members in each row beingstaggered in longitudinal relation to the next adjacent member wherebyalternate longitudinal members of a row project beyond one end of asection and are receded at the opposite end of such section so thatadjacent sections may be fitted together by placing the projectingmembers of onesection in the recess of an adjacent section, and strapmeans for weaving among said longitudinal members of adjacent sectionsfor retaining them in position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS620,992 Surgi Mar. 14, 1899 1,935,823 Turner Nov. 21, 1933 2,335,556Wilson Nov. 30, 1943

